When Donald Trump takes office again at noon today, he comes with a ready agenda.
His team prepared perhaps the most aggressive opening day agenda in American history: some 200 executive orders aimed at reorganizing the federal government.
“Every radical and foolish executive order of the Biden administration will be rescinded within hours of me taking the oath of office,” President Trump said at a rally yesterday. “Watching TV tomorrow will be a lot of fun.”
From TikTok to the Middle East, Trump has essentially been president for at least the past month, as the Biden administration just faded away.
This is not the chaotic Trump presidency of 2017. The range reflects a fundamental shift in President Trump’s approach to power. His first administration learned the workings of Washington through trial and error. This time, he has assembled a team of DC veterans who not only support his policies, but also understand how the federal bureaucracy operates and how to make it work.
Here’s a sample of what’s coming:
Border security and immigration control
- Declares national emergency on southern border
- Direct the military to work with DHS
- Reinstate “Remain in Mexico”
- End “catch and release”
- Designating cartels as terrorist organizations\
Learn more: What are the chances that Trump will survive?
federal workforce reform
- End all federal DEI programs
- Remove non-compliant federal employees and eliminate remote work policies
- Suspends security clearances of 51 officials who misled about Hunter Biden’s laptop
- New establishment of Government Efficiency Bureau, hiring freeze
energy and environment
- Alaska’s open energy production
- Repealing Biden-era rules promoting electric vehicles
- Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement
- Repeal the Green New Deal
- Suspend offshore wind leases
social policy
- Establishing a definition of biological sex
- rename a historic place
- Granting leniency to at least some people convicted of the Jan. 6 crimes.
- Enable TikTok to continue operating
This agenda represents more than policy change. This is a blueprint for transforming the way the federal government operates. Trump’s team spent three years analyzing the successes and failures of his first term. They identified pressure points in the bureaucracy and planned concrete actions to address them.
The difference between 2017 and 2024 is clear. And Trump was a disruptor learning to govern. Now he has assembled a team that understands both his vision and how federal power works. They’re not just coming to drain the swamp, they’re coming to rebuild it in their image.
For Trump supporters, this signals the arrival of an administration ready to implement policy from day one. For opponents, it’s their worst nightmare. This is Trump with a plan.
Today marks the beginning of the most concentrated exercise of executive power in recent American history. By noon, we’ll know exactly what that means.
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Ken LaCorte writes about censorship, media malpractice, uncomfortable questions, and honest insights for people who want to know how the world really works. Follow Ken on Substack